"The EPA hit back against Texas and other states suing to vacate the agency’s new waters of the US rule, saying the states have sued to halt a rule that isn’t much different from the status quo.
“Plaintiffs’ claims of harm are premised on either a complete disregard for the Rule’s similarity to the status quo they seek to maintain,” or overstate the differences between the status quo and the new rule, the Environmental Protection Agency said in its response, filed March 4.
Texas, which claimed that it faces too much regulatory uncertainty because of the rule, has failed to show that it has standing to sue because uncertainty isn’t sufficient to establish standing, EPA said.
In the case, Texas v. EPA, the state is asking the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas to issue a preliminary injunction against President Joe Biden’s waters of the US, or WOTUS, rule, which is set to take effect March 20. The rule it’s based on, however, has been in effect for more than a year since two federal courts tossed out the Trump administration’s 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule."
Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Environment March 6, 2023.
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